Bypass opponents argue for southern route

Bypass opponents argue for southern route
By Jerry W. Kram

A group of residents of the area north and east of New Town presented a letter outlining their objections to the proposed route for a truck reliever route (bypass) to the north and east of New Town.
Brenda Stubstad represented the group, which included John Reese, manager of the United Prairie Cooperative.
Stubstad first addressed what the group saw as deficiencies in the engineering studies supporting the project. She insisted that he North Dakota Department of Transportation studies of traffic were no longer correct and that most of the traffic going through New Town comes from the west and east and not from the north on North Dakota Highway 1804. Three members of the group counted traffic at the corner of North Dakota Highways 1804 and 23 and on Highway 23 at Alco for a couple of hours one day and presented their findings in support of their argument.
Stubstad also said the proposed bypass would increase traffic on 1804 in town and would cause congestion problems for two churches at the corner intersection as well as the baseball diamond to the north.